Immigrant-rights organizers and union leaders are set to crowd the sidewalk in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday morning, taking their fight straight to FIFA’s local World Cup office over what they call a high-risk worker vetting system. The groups say the accreditation process for stadium staff pries into workers’ personal lives and could leave them vulnerable to immigration enforcement. They plan to rally and deliver their message directly at 633 W. 5th St. starting at 10 a.m.
Organizers, including UNITE HERE Local 11, CHIRLA, LAANE, CLUE and the Fair Games Coalition, say FIFA is demanding sensitive details from workers such as Social Security numbers, home addresses, nationality and country of birth, along with a waiver of California privacy protections. The coalition also includes the California Immigrant Policy Center, Nikkei Progressives and Jobs to Move America, according to NBC Los Angeles.
Advocates say Wednesday’s action is the latest escalation in a campaign that ramped up earlier this month, when a formal complaint was filed with state regulators accusing FIFA’s process of violating California privacy laws. As reported by NBC News, UNITE HERE Local 11, the ACLU of Southern California and LAANE have asked the California Privacy Protection Agency and the state Department of Justice to investigate and put the brakes on the current accreditation system.
What organizers are demanding
The coalition wants FIFA to stop requiring workers to sign away their California privacy rights, to cut off any sharing of employee data with the Department of Homeland Security or Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and to spell out clearly how worker information is stored and used. Tom Steyer, who joined SoFi Stadium workers at a rally in Inglewood last week, called on FIFA and Kroenke Sports & Entertainment to publicly promise that "ICE will play no role in the 2026 World Cup," organizers said, according to NBC Los Angeles.
Why workers are alarmed
SoFi Stadium workers and nearby vendors say the accreditation requirements have stirred up anxiety on the ground, and the union that represents stadium employees has warned it could withhold labor if federal immigration agents show up at World Cup matches. Roughly 2,000 stadium workers could be affected, according to the Los Angeles Times, and UNITE HERE Local 11 says it represents more than 32,000 hospitality workers across Southern California and Arizona.
Where investigators stand
California’s top law enforcement officials are already circling FIFA on related issues. Attorney General Rob Bonta sent a letter this month seeking answers about World Cup ticketing and sales, a signal that state officials are taking a close look at the host committee’s operations. The move, detailed by the California Department of Justice, could broaden the scope of any review if state investigators decide to take up the accreditation complaint as well.
Organizers say the downtown visit to FIFA’s office marks a new phase in a campaign that has already featured May Day marches and rallies at SoFi Stadium, and they are vowing to turn up the heat if FIFA and the host committee do not publicly guarantee protections for workers. As the Los Angeles Times noted, FIFA did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and organizers say they will keep documenting what they see as data-sharing risks until they get clear assurances in writing.
